Critic Reviews

Presentation is generally well above average, with adequate options screens and an unusual but very effective control method. Loads of skill levels.
Uninspiring pitch scrolls well enough, and the small but perfectly formed players rush around with much gusto.
The sampled effects are limited, but create a suitable atmosphere.
The control system takes some getting used to, and there’s a distinct lack of pazazz.
So realistic, so, fun and soooo addictive.
Boots all other Amiga football sims over the crossbar. Microprose Soccer watch out!!!

Kick Off also offers a totally new method of trapping and passing - which again introduced a new level of realism. Not as pretty as most other computer soccer games but far more playable - and in this type of game the playability is everything.

This is one of the fastest and most exciting action games around, and it just has to be the best football simulation ever. If it's realism, thrills and unrelenting action you want, go dazzle yourself and your friends with Kick Off - you won't regret it.

Those who persevere should eventually find their outfield players dribbling dangerously, leaping great heights to head the ball, shooting and passing accurately, stopping the ball dead and performing every trick in the book - and even a few that aren't! Probably the best footie game yet.

Untidy in places with sprite flicker and basic in-game presentation. Kick Off is otherwise technically impressive with very fast-moving action coupled to full-screen scrolling. At ten pounds (which Anco would have liked, but some chainstores preferred a higher price) it would have been superb value for money, but it's still a great buy.

But what about the gameplay. Your players automatically dribble the ball once they get hold of it, and turning with the ball can take a while to master (hold the joystick fire button down before touching the ball and you'll trap it, making it much easier to control) but once you do, you'll find the pace of the game makes it thoroughly enjoyable. Add to the great gameplay a host of skill levels, a league to play in and save option and you're onto a winner.

Kick Off proves to be a surprisingly playable and immensely entertaining game. This might not look the greatest thing since Trevor Brooking, and it is nowhere near as perfect, but it sets the standard for other games in the league to follow.

[Budget re-release] Much to my surprise, Kick Off turned out to be superior to its illustrious follow-up (mainly by virtue of it being possible to score now and again), but Hot Shot out-performed its almost non existent reputation considerably. The real distinction is that Kick Off is more like football and Hot-Shot is more like an arcade football game, so bear in mind and make your own decision. (Helpful to me, eh?) In fact, at these prices, it might even be worth getting both of them.

Imagineer's previous effort at converting Kick Off to console - Pro Soccer on the SNES - was a travesty of the highest order. Sadly, they have not learned from their previous errors and NES Kick Off suffers from almost exactly the same flaws as its SNES counterpart. The graphics are too small and very blurry, the scrolling is poor and the sound is dire. The ball logic is somewhat odd, with Mr Ball zooming off in whatever random direction it feels like. The players also suffer from a bad case of intangibility as the ball passes straight through their bodies very often. The computer players also have some strange form of telepathy, zooming in front of your men to intercept the ball and run away with it. Try a sliding tackle and watch your player screech halfway down the pitch in an uncontrollable skid! The character selection is also useless, sometimes a player chasing down the ball will turn away as you're given control of someone in a pathetic position.

Anco released a real turkey
just in time for Christmas 1989,
but I don’t mean in a good way.
There was no stuffing, baconwrapped
mini sausages or any of
the lush extras with this version
of the game. Put simply, the
disappointment of it bearing the
name of an Amiga classic was
almost criminal.